Fabulous Five 010 - Playing the Part (2 page)

"Okay, everybody," Mr. Levine said. "We've
got enough scripts for everyone who's going to try out." He stood on the
stage in the auditorium Wednesday after school, surrounded by kids who were
waving their hands and asking for scripts. "When I call your name, come up
and get one, and I'll check you off. And please tell me which part you're
interested in so I can make sure I've got you down for the right one."

"Shawnie Pendergast." Beth watched Shawnie weave
her way through the crowd to get her script. Shawnie is really making an effort
to be friendly since she ran away and almost got Katie in trouble, she thought.

"Garrett Boldt," called Mr. Levine. "Taffy
Sinclair."

Beth's apprehension grew as Taffy held up her hand and
walked confidently over to Mr. Levine to get her script. Taffy looked as if she
belonged on a stage. She may have all that experience, Beth told herself, but
she doesn't want the part as much as I do.

"Kaci Davis." Beth felt a twinge of worry as she
watched Kaci move to get her script. Beth couldn't help noticing again how
pretty Kaci was. And she was a ninth-grader. How much chance does a
seventh-grader have against a ninth-grader? she thought.

"Laura McCall."

Tall Laura, with the long blond braid that started on the
top of her head and hung down over her shoulder, moved through the crowd of
kids like a queen. She's pretty, too, but I look more like the person who
should be playing the part of Julie, Beth thought.

"Beth Barry."

Beth squared her shoulders, held her chin high, and imagined
that she was a great actress going up to receive her script for a new starring
role. She knew everyone was watching her. I'll show them, she told herself.
They haven't seen acting yet, until they've seen Beth Barry act.

"Okay, everyone," Mr. Levine announced. "Tryouts
are on Friday after school. Those who are chosen can keep their scripts to
practice with. Those who aren't chosen can return the scripts to me later. Lots
of luck to all of you."

Beth squeezed the script tightly to her body as she left the
auditorium. This was her first junior high script, and it seemed so grown-up.
For the first time in her life, she felt as if she were really on her way to
becoming an actress.

That evening, after Beth had helped clean up the dinner dishes,
she was on her way to her room to study when the phone rang just as she was
passing it.

She grabbed it at the same instant that Alicia came running
in and Brittany appeared in the other doorway with an it's-obviously-for-me
look.

"Beth?" It was Christie.

"Oh, hi, Christie," Beth answered. She shrugged at
Brittany and gave her sister a fake smile.

Christie talked about school for a moment, but Beth could
tell that that wasn't what was on her mind.

Finally Christie said, "Um, Beth. Do you remember when
we were talking, and you said that you didn't care who Keith dated?"

"Yes," said Beth, but little tingles of
apprehension were racing up her spine.

"Um, well, I was just wondering . . ."

"Wondering what?" asked Beth. She heard Christie
take a deep breath.

"Well, I saw Keith right after school. You know, when
you were at the meeting for the play. And he sort of asked me to go to Bumpers
with him. I was shocked that he asked, and naturally I didn't want to butt into
your romance, so I said no. But I was wondering if you really meant what you
said about not caring if Keith dated other girls." Her voice trailed off
to just above a whisper.

Beth's mouth dropped open. Keith had asked Christie to go to
Bumpers. Bumpers was the fast-food restaurant where
everyone
hung out
after school. How could he do a thing like that? Was he trying to show her that
he could do without her? She had just been talking big the other day and had
definitely expected to make up with him, but if he felt
that
way, she
would just show him.

"You should have said yes," she said firmly. "It
wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to me." She flipped her hand
casually, as if Christie could see it over the phone. "Just like you,
Christie, now and then I need a little space. I've got
so
much going on
that I want to be involved in. Maybe it's time we didn't go steady anymore."

"If you say so," said Christie.

Beth smiled to herself after they had hung up. Despite what
Christie had told her, Beth didn't think for one minute that Keith would really
go out with someone else, especially not with one of Beth's best friends. He
was just trying to make her angry because she wouldn't spend as much time with
him as he wanted her to.

Back in her room, Beth grabbed the script and flipped
through the pages. Then she tossed it onto the bed and opened her social
studies book instead.

She had read only two paragraphs when her thoughts drifted
back to Keith and Christie. What Christie had said about Keith's asking her to
go to Bumpers was really bugging her.

She had known that Keith was upset at her for being so busy,
but she couldn't believe he'd ask Christie to go to Bumpers with him. How could
he do that to her? Was he really that mad at her? Didn't he know how important
the play was to her? Maybe if she called him and talked to him again, he would
understand.

She got out of her chair and took two steps toward the door.
No, she thought, I can't do that. I have pride. Keith was the one who didn't
understand her. It was up to him to call. In fact, he would probably call her
this very evening. When he did, she would just pretend there was nothing wrong.

She walked back to her desk and sat down. A second later she
leapt up again and opened the door. Was that the telephone ringing? She could
hear Brittany talking to someone on the phone downstairs. She waited a minute
to see if Brittany would call her, but the conversation continued, and she knew
it was one of Brittany's friends. She left the door open a crack so she could
hear if the phone rang again.

Beth walked over to the bed and picked up the play script.
She was dying to start practicing, but first she had to study for her social
studies test.

For the next fifteen minutes Beth tried to study, but
instead she could only stare into space. If Keith asks Christie to go to
Bumpers with him again, would Christie accept? she wondered. I'll die if they
go out and everyone sees them together.

What if Keith asked Christie to go to the movies with him on
Friday night? Would she go?

No! Beth thought emphatically. Christie was one of her best
friends. She wouldn't go on a date with Keith, she thought smugly. Best friends
didn't date each other's boyfriends, and Christie and Beth had been best
friends for a long time. Besides, Keith would get over his anger soon.

But with a sinking feeling Beth remembered what she had told
Christie and everyone else in The Fabulous Five: She didn't care about Keith;
she was thinking about breaking up anyway. Why did I say such a stupid thing? she
thought. I didn't mean that seriously. Christie ought to know that. She ought
to understand that I was just talking big again.

Beth sighed. Her big mouth was always getting her into
trouble. One of the worst times had been when she had told The Fantastic
Foursome that she was going to have a party that was bigger and better than the
one Laura McCall was having. Then she had gotten grounded and couldn't have any
kind of party, even a teensy one. Then she had told everyone that Jana was
related to Trevor Morgan, the lead singer with the rock group Brain Damage.
Christie should know by now that Beth was always saying things that she didn't
mean.

Beth glanced over again at the script lying in the middle of
her bed. As long as she was having difficulty reading her social studies book,
she would make a deal with herself. She would read a little bit of the script,
and then she would come back to her social studies until she was sure she knew
enough to make an A on the test.

That's fair, she thought happily. She picked up the script
and flopped on the bed and began thumbing through the pages, counting the lines
for Julie's part. Gosh, there are a lot of words, she thought, and started
reading out loud.

"Oh, Ronnie, I do so want to date you, but you know how
my parents feel."

Beth liked the sound of her voice, but it just wasn't quite
right. She tried speaking the part again, this time louder and with more power.
That's better, she thought excitedly, but I can do it even better.

Beth went to her bookcase and picked out one of her books on
acting and reread the parts she had underlined.
Calm yourself by warming up.
. . .
Try to show that extra spark. . . . Find the spotlight and keep your
head up and your face forward. . . . Speak loudly and slowly.

Beth giggled at the suggestion below the last one. It said
you should try reading your part to someone else through a door. The idea was
to help you to speak your lines loudly and clearly enough to be heard in the
last row. Maybe she ought to try reading to her brother Brian through his door.
If he could hear her with his stereo turned up, anyone in the auditorium should
be able to hear her without a microphone.

Concentrate on your lines. Try to become the person you
are portraying.

Beth thought about that for a moment. It made sense. If you
were going to act as if you were someone else, you should really try to forget
yourself and be that person. If you tried hard enough, and concentrated, you
could be
anyone
you wanted to be. I can make people think I'm happy when
I'm not or mad when I'm happy, if I really want to, she thought. I can hide my
real feelings and play whatever part I choose. I'm not just an actress, I'm a
good one!

"Okay," she said out loud. "Just call me
Julie because that's who I am."

She bent over and touched her toes ten times and did some
stretches and deep-breathing exercises. Then she opened her closet door so she
could see herself in the full-length mirror and tried reading the part again.
This time, the words rolled off her lips, and she made grand gestures at the
mirror with her hands as if she were speaking to someone. Beth smiled at her
reflection, bowed, and pretended that she could hear the audience applauding.

Then a thought came to her, and she went into her closet.
The music from Brian's stereo was vibrating the walls, even though it was
supposed to be turned down so that everybody else could do their homework. The
lid of the trunk where she kept her acting things screeched as Beth opened it.

First she pulled out Brian's gorilla costume and put it on
the floor. Then came the Oriental fans, wigs, and fake mustaches. Finally, she
found the makeup kit and took it back to her desk.

Spreading the contents out on top of her books, Beth grabbed
a bottle of foundation and opened it. After she'd spread a layer over her face,
she dusted powder over it. Then she contoured her face with a dark blush and
carefully edged her eyes with liner. Next she put on a bright red lipstick and
darkened her eyebrows with a pencil.

My hair, she thought, running her fingers through it. She
dug her brush out of her purse and tried to comb her short, spiky hair into
different styles. Oh, well, she said to herself, there's not much I can do with
it. Finally she patted it into place.

She spun in front of the mirror and looked at herself from
all sides. She almost looked the part already.

Beth picked up the script and started reading again, this
time from the very first line. She concentrated and really tried to feel like
Julie.

Soon the image in the mirror that had looked like Beth Barry
faded, and she saw Julie standing in front of her. Her voice got more dramatic
and her movements more eloquent. Time passed without her realizing it as she
read through the whole play.

When Beth was finished, she felt totally exhausted. She lay
down on her bed with the script clutched to her chest and thought about what it
would be like to be a big star. With visions of herself as the lead in a
Broadway play, taking bows as the audience applauded wildly, she finally
drifted off to sleep.

Beth woke with a start. The lamp next to her bed was still on,
and sunlight was streaming into her room. The social studies book was lying
unopened on her desk.

"Oh, my gosh, the test!" she said, jumping out of
bed.

She ran to the closet mirror and stared in horror at her
face. The makeup was all smudged and she looked like some kind of monster. She
grabbed a handful of tissues and scrubbed her face until it was sore and red
but finally clean.

Picking up her social studies book, she headed for the
bathroom. When she got there, the door was closed.

"Hurry up and let someone else use the bathroom!"
she called, knocking sharply on the door.

"You can wait your turn!" Brittany's voice came
from inside.

Beth bounced up and down, anxiously waiting to get in. She
flipped her book open and skimmed the pages.

"Can I go in next, Bethy?" asked Alicia, coming
out of her room and walking with her legs crossed. "I've got to go to the
bathroom."

Beth rolled her eyes to the ceiling and knocked on the door
again. "Brittany, will you hurry? We've got an emergency out here. Alicia
has to go to the bathroom."

Mumbled words that Beth couldn't understand came from
inside.

Alicia jumped up and down, and Beth began to worry that she
really wouldn't be able to wait.

"BRITTANY!" she yelled, knocking on the door
harder.

The door popped open and Brittany emerged, throwing a towel
over her shoulder as Alicia slipped past her.

"All right, all ready!" said Brittany. "I'll
be glad when I go to college and don't have to share the bathroom with so many
people."

"College has thousands of people," retorted Beth.

"But I won't be sharing a bathroom with all of them,"
Brittany hurled back over her shoulder.

She's got a point, thought Beth, opening her book again.

She felt a paw hitting the back of her leg, and turned to
see Agatha smiling up at her. "You will have to wait your turn," she
told the dog. Agatha's smile seemed to grow at the attention.

Finally Beth heard the toilet flush, and Alicia came out.
She yelled, "Thanks, Bethy!" as she ran back to her room.

Inside the bathroom, Beth propped her book against the
mirror and began reading and brushing her teeth.

"Excuse me," Beth said to Bill Soliday as she
bumped into him with her tray coming out of the cafeteria line. She saw
Melanie, Jana, Christie, and Katie at The Fabulous Five's regular table.

"Hi, everybody," she said as she joined them. She
gave Christie an extra big smile. She didn't want Christie to think she was
hurt or worried over Keith's asking her to go to Bumpers. Maybe Keith would get
over being mad and wouldn't ask Christie to go to Bumpers again anyway.

"How's practice going for the tryouts?" asked
Katie.

"A lot better than studying for my social studies
test," answered Beth. "I didn't do very well at all. I read the
assignment, but I forgot everything when I got in class."

"Have you thought about practicing your part
onstage?" asked Christie. "It sure helped me before we had the tryout
for the Super Quiz team. I didn't have to worry about where to be or what to do
and could concentrate on the questions."

"That's a great idea!" said Beth gratefully.
"I hadn't thought about that. I'll have to do it."

"Everyone's going to the football game Saturday,
right?" asked Melanie. They all said yes.

"Randy said that Keith has a chance to be first in the
league in yards gained," said Jana. "If he gets enough yards in
Saturday's game, he'll go ahead of Mike Saharis from Georgetown Junior
High."

"That's what Keith told me, too," said Christie.

"Oh, really?" said Beth. She felt her face flush
and hoped Christie didn't notice.

"You didn't know that?" asked Melanie. "And
he's your boyfriend."

"Uh, sure I knew that," said Beth, bluffing.
"I, uh, just forgot for a minute. We haven't seen each other much lately,
and I've got
so
much on my mind."

Beth tried to remember if Keith had told her about it, and
she had forgotten. Was it possible that he would have said something as
important as that to Christie and not told her? Don't be ridiculous, she
thought angrily. Keith's
my
boyfriend. But a little voice in her head
reminded her that she had said she wanted to break up with him. But she hadn't
said
positively.

It was hard for Beth to pay attention to what was going on
during her afternoon classes. Her mind kept turning to Keith. She hadn't seen
him all morning. Was he avoiding her? If he was mad at her, should she be the
one to try and make up? That didn't seem fair because she really hadn't done
anything wrong. She was just busy, that's all.

She had been on the cheerleading squad since the beginning
of the school year, and he knew how much she wanted to be an actress. It was
just going to take more of her time than she had expected, at least for now.
She and Keith still had the weekends to date.

Did Keith think that Christie was prettier than she was? The
idea shocked Beth. She hadn't thought about that before. Maybe Keith had been
looking for an excuse to break up with her so that he could ask Christie for a
date all along.

Beth shook her head. I'm starting to imagine things, she
thought. Keith and I are just having a little argument. We've argued before,
but we've never broken up.

What I have to do is take the positive approach. If I act as
if nothing is wrong, everything will be all right. She straightened her back
and sat up straight. It's just like playing a part in a play.

Beth pushed open the auditorium doors before cheerleading
practice and walked down the aisle. She tossed her books into one of the
front-row seats, and then, with her script in hand, she walked up the stairs
onto the stage.

She was glad that Christie had suggested that she read her
lines in the auditorium. It would seem much more real and make the tryouts
easier. That's what good friends are for, she thought. They think about each
other and share good ideas.

The auditorium was at least twice the size of the one at
Mark Twain Elementary. Moving to the front center of the stage, she looked out
over the rows of empty seats. It was awesome standing there imagining them
filled with students and parents.

She took several deep breaths and pulled herself up to her
full height. Arching her eyebrows, she tried to look the way she imagined a
great actress would before an admiring audience.

Then, in her imagination, the applause started. It grew and
grew until it was a roar, and she could see people standing and yelling her
name. An elegant man, whose face she couldn't quite see, was whistling his
approval. She knew it was Mr. Stapleton, Mr. Levine's friend, the casting
director from New York.

Clutching her script tightly to her chest, Beth looked out
over the happy faces and smiled back her appreciation.

She opened the script and began to read the part of Julie.